Aircraft with botative wings



July 31, 192s.

J. DE LA CIERVA AIRCRAFT WITH ROTATIVE WINGS Filed NOV. 10, 1926 gear constructed to mama .my ai, ma

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JUAN nl LA CIERVA, 0l* IDBID, SPAIN.

AIRCRAFT WITH BOTATIVE WINGS.

Application aled November 1Q, 1826, Serial No. 147,570,`and in Great Britainv November M, 1885.

This invention relates to aircraft `with freely rotating hinged-wing systemsof the type described in my patent specification No. 1,590,497 and is directed more particularly to improvements relative to the control of the aircraft.

In aircraft of this type, an automatic centerin of aerodynamical pressure isA obtained by t ie method of hingedly jointng the wings to the axis of rotation, and it. has been found that, without in any way interferin with its natural stability, lateral control o the aircraft may be obtained by varying the inclination of the axis of rotation and consequently the mean plane of rotation of the wings relatively to the vertical axis of symmetry of the aircraft.

The present invention therefore primarily consists in mounting the wing supporting member constituting the gleneral axis of rotation of the wings in suc a manner that it is capable of variable lateral inclination.

In the case of light machines where the inertia Vof the win system is relatively small this ad'ustment o late-ral inclination may be effectedby hand operated means through a 've the necessary me# chanical advantage. n other cases the operating means may embody a servo mechanism of any convenient type, anda feature of the invention consists in employing as the source of power for this servo mechanism the kinetic energy possessed by the rotating wing system in flight.

Constructional forms of control arrangements in accordance with the present 1nvention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which are more or less diagram'- matic in character and intended more particularly to enable the invention to be understood and applied in practice by persons skilled in the art than to illustrate exact constructional details which will obviously vary with different types of aircraft and the nature and measure o control required.

In these drawin :f-

Fig. 1 shows a irect hand-operated gear for adjusting the lateral inclination of the wing system, and

Fig. 2 illustrates diagrammatically o ne form of hand controlled servo mechanism utilizin the ener of the rotating wings to ad'ust t e lateral inclination of the system.

n both these figures G represents a transverse section through the cociit of the aircraft. A non-rotative shaft carrying the revolving hub member J to which the. wings are hingedly jointed, is tiltably mounted in bearings K in` the supporting structure L, usually consisting of three or four membersl arranged in pyramid form.

I Fig. 1, the lower end of the shaft H carries a toothed segment M engaged by relatively slow pitch worm N on a transverse shaft O mounted in suitable bearings in the body of the aircraft and turned by a hand l wheel If the mechanical advantage is insufficient to enable the shaft H to be inclined without imposing too great an effort on the operator, any convenient form of reduction gear may be included.

.In Fig. 2 the tubular shaft H is provided with laterally extending bosses Q to which are pivoted bell crank levers R connected through rods R1 to a cross-head S2 pivoted at S1 and carrying a control lever S, the arrangement being such that the operator may use his feety on the cross head S2 to assist or as an alternative to the hand lever S.

The shorter arms of bell crank lever R serve as bearings for shafts T universally )ointed at T1 and T2 and carrying at their upper ends friction pinions U normally out of contact with a friction wheel V which revolves fast with the hub member J to which the win are jointed.v The lower ends of the sha T are supported in bearings W, and are connected through friction bevel gearing X, X1 to a slow pitch Worm Y working through a threaded nut Y1 pivotally jointed to a piece Z slidable inA the hollow shaft H.

The friction wheels X1 are slidably splined on the shaft X2 and loaded by strong springs Xa acting to thrust the gearing into engagement.

The operation is as follows With the control lever S in central position the friction pinions U are out of engagement with the friction wheel V. When it is desired to incline the Wing system to the left, that is to say to move the lower end of the shaftvI-I to the right, the control lever S is moved over to the left thereby bringing the right hand friction 'pinion U into frictional engagement with the wheel V, the right hand shaft T being turned and transmitting its motion to the worm Y through the bevel gear XX1, the threaded nut Y1 being moved to the right. The pivots of the bell crank levers R move with the` shaft H and hence the relative positions of the bell crank pivots the 4rig and the friction wheel V do not vary. When the inclination is sufficient the control lever S is moved back to central or neutral position disengaging the pinion .U from the wheel V whe-reupon the movement of the shaft H ceases due to the inertia of the wing s stem, and the mechanism remains set wit the shaft at that inclination. Lockin means to hold the shaft in adjusted posit-ions are probabl unnecessary butmay be provided if foun desirable. In order to prevent eX- cessive inclination of the-shaft H and any ossibility of its fouling'the bevel ygearinfr gi X1, the ends of the nut Y1 are arrange to come intocontact with one or other of the bevel wheels X1 when a predetermined limit of movement has been reached, after which further movement forces the gearing out of engagement against the compression of the springs X3, and stops rotation of the worm Y. v

When the wing system is to be inclined in the opposite sense, that Vis to say. when the" lower end of the shaft H is to be moved to the left the control lever is moved over to ht thereb engaging the 'lefthand friction inion H with the Wheel V, the Worm Y eing turned in the opposite sense to that above described.

What I claim is 1. In aircraft, a plurality of freely rotative wings adapted to be driven by the air flow across them in flight, a centra-l hub member to which said wings arehinge-jointed, a shaft carrying said hub member and. tiltably mounted in the body of the air craft so as to be capable of variable lateral inclination.

2. In aircraft, a plurality of freely rotative wings adapted to be driven by the air fiow across themv in flight, a hub member to which said wings are hinge-jointed, `a shaft carryinfr said hub member and mounted in the bo y of the air craft so as to be capable of variable lateral inclination and manually operable means for effecting such inclination.

3. In aircraft, a plurality of freely rotative wings adapted to be driven by the air flow across them in fli ht, a hub member to which said wings are inge-jointed, a shaft carr ing said hub member and mounted in the 'ody of the aircraft so as to be capable of variable lateral inclination, a toothed seg# ment on said shaft, a transverse shaft mountwhich said wings are ed in the body of the air craft, a wormv .carried by 'said transverse shaft and. engaging the toothed segment and a hand wheel for turning said worm.

4. -In aircraft, a pluralit of freely rotative wings adapted to be riven by the air `ow across them in iii ht, a hub member to which said wings are inge-jointed, ashaft carrylng said hubfmember and mounted in the body of the aircraft yso as to be capable of variable lateral inclination, vand 4a servo-"- carrying said hub member and'mounted in the body of the aircraft so as to be capable of variable lateral inclination, a friction wheel carried by the hub member, friction pinions adjustably mounted so as to be moved, 1nto and out of engagement with the fric-V tion wheel, caring connecting said pinions to a sha body of the aircraft, a worm on' said transverse shaft, a threaded member connected inge-jointed, a shaft transversely disposed in the v to the wing-support-in lshaft and engaging said worm, and manna y operable means for engaging and disengaglng one or the'other of the friction wheel.

6. In aircraft, a pluralitv t1ve wings adapted to be riven bythe air pinions with the frictionV of lfreely rotal iiow across them in fli ht, a hub member to -4 which said wings are inge-jointed, a shaft the of variable lateral inclination, a friction wheel carried b pimons adjusta ly mounted so as to be carrying said hub member andl mounted inV ody of the aircraft so as to be capable,

the h ub member, friction moved into and out of engagement with the friction wheel, gearing connecting said pinions to a shaft transversely disposed in the body of the aircraft,l a worm on said transverse shaft, a threaded member connected to the wlng-supportmg shaft and engaging said worm, manually operable means for en aging and d isengaging one or the other o theplmons with the friction wheel, and! frlction automatically acting means for 'disengaging ,l

the gearingy so as to limit the inclination of the wmg-supportin shaft. I

AN Dn LA CIERVA. 

